Loyalty
by ryouko70
Summary: *Humanized* I guess this is more of a story about the unit coming together. This particular story is about Rico. In the future I'll probably have stories about the other three joining. It's mostly drama with a little of what I hope passes for humor. There's no pairing or slash(but read into it what you want). ;) POM doesn't belong to me, no matter how much I want it!
1. Chapter 1

"You wanted to see me, sir?"

The middle aged officer looked up from his desk to see the young captain standing in the open doorway, saluting. He momentary studied the young man before him. He was just below average height and stocky. His dark hair was done in a crew cut style that made his head look oddly flat (or maybe he just had a flat head).

He stood and returned the salute. "Yes, Skipper. Shut the door, if you would. Have a seat." After shutting the door, the young man sauntered into the room and eased himself into the seat with the extreme confidence that earned him his Captain's rank at the young age of 25, solo missions at the age of 28, and the command of his own unit at the age of 30. The officer held up a manilla folder. "I believe I have found the man you are looking for."

The captain leaned forward eagerly, his ice blue eye shining with excitement. "The weapons specialist?"

"Yes". He handed Skipper the folder. Skipper opened the folder and read through the information.

"Rico. Age: 28. Rank: Sergeant 1st Class. Specialties: Explosives." He glanced at the pictured. "That's an interesting scar he has there. Bar fight?"

"No. An explosive that he was making went off prematurely. We have no idea how he ever survived that blast. Even so, it gave him that scar and severely damaged his larynx. The man very rarely talks because people can't understand what he's saying."

"Well, I'm not looking for a communication specialist. You say this guy is the best?"

"No one can handle weapons like he can. And he's a top-notch hand-to-hand fighter too."

"He sounds perfect!"

"But, Skipper. There is something I should warn you about. The man is crazy."

"Well, you need to be a little crazy to be in my unit."

"No. I mean full-fledge psychotic. The man is uncontrollable. He's fine, so long as he has his explosives to create or weapons to clean and maintain. But he obeys no one. And nothing seems to work on him. There are no disciplines that get him to cooperate. He does want he wants to do. He's a very dangerous man."

"I like danger."

"I'm not kidding, Skipper! That man is a walking disaster! He once destroyed a bar."

"A lot of soldiers get into fights."

"No. He _destroyed _the bar. Tens of thousands of dollars worth of damage. He sent three men to the hospital. It took two tranquilizer darts to bring him down. There's no stopping him when he goes full-blown psycho."

"Well, you needn't worry, sir. I'll make him obey me." Skipper smile confidently. "I have a way of making people do what I want."

The older man chuckled. "Skipper, you don't _have _to make people obey you. They willingly do so. Do you think Kowalski would have joined the unit if you weren't the one in charge? He would have joined even if you hadn't offered to make him your second-in-command. He agreed before I even told him about the unlimited lab supplies."

Skipper chuckled too. "I'm sure he squealed like a girl when he heard about the lab he was getting." He chuckled again, but then gave himself a little mental shake. "But about this Rico. Do you know where I might find him?"

The officer looked at the clock. "Well, it's not lights out, and it's not time for dinner. So he's either at the firing range, or in the training hall teaching the others how to land on the mat."

The men saluted each other and Skipper turned to head to the door. But as Skipper reached for the handle he heard over his shoulder, "one more thing. The man has a doll he plays with."

Skipper turned to his commanding officer, with a look of disgust on his face. "He has one of those creepy blow-up things?"

"No. A doll. A Ms. Perky doll, to be precise." The look of disgust turned into disbelief. "But I would advise you to not mention the doll to him."

"Why not?"

"Remember that bar I mentioned? That happened because someone made the mistake of calling that doll a 'toy'."


	2. Chapter 2

At the firing range a lone man stood in one of the booths. He was above average height and had a muscular build to him. His black hair was cut short and tended to be spiky on top. He might have been considered handsome if it wasn't for the long scar that ran from his temple down to his chin. Well, that and the crazed look on his face.

Dark blue eyes locked onto the paper target as he brought his handgun up. He shot several rounds into the paper dummy's head. He looked at the target, looked at his gun, then looked at the target again. Most of the "face" of the target was gone, but that wasn't good enough. It didn't give him enough satisfaction. He put the gun back in its holster and thought for a moment. Out of nowhere, he pulled a bazooka. He softly said, "kaboom", and fired. The shot disintegrated the target, knocked a hole in the wall, and blew up a huge dumpster. The sound of a car alarm and a cry of "my car!" could be heard in the distance. The man chuckled.

"Nice shooting there, Rico."

The bazooka disappeared, and the gun reappeared in his hand. It took a moment for him to register that it was an officer standing there.

"Stand down, soldier."

Rico scowled, but felt himself compelled to put the gun away. He was surprised to find himself saluting the captain. He didn't normally do that, and when he did it was always very sloppy. There was something about this shorter man, but he couldn't really understand it. Thinking wasn't exactly his strong point.

The captain crisply returned the salute. "At ease." Rico relaxed, but only slightly. He didn't know who this man was and didn't trust him. Rico moved aside as the man moved to the booth that Rico had been shooting at. Skipper looked at the destruction with some admiration. This was the kind of person he needed for his unit. Still eyeing the hole in the wall, he said, "I'm here to talk to you about a little matter, Rico."

Without warning, Rico was behind him and had his left arm around the Skipper's neck in a choke hold. "No ta'e dollie", he croaked.

'He was right," Skipper thought, calmly. 'There was damage to the vocal cords, but the man is hardly unintelligible. You just have to listen carefully.' Reaching up, he grabbed Rico's wrist, pressing two fingers against one area of the wrist. With the pressure point engaged, he was able to easily twist Rico's left arm behind his back and slam him face down on the booth's ledge.

Rico squirmed but wasn't able to loosen himself. He slowly began to moved his right hand to the edge, toward his holster. Skipper saw the movement and put a little more pressure on Rico's arm. Rico felt the added pressure on his arm and knew that any more would dislocate his shoulder. He slowly moved his right hand away from the edge and up to his head.

He started to become anxious. This stranger was going to take Ms. Perky away and he'd be left alone. His breathing became more rapid. "No ta'e dollie", he softly croaked.

Skipper remembered the warning and sighed. He let go of Rico's arm and moved away from the larger man. "No one is taking your dollie away."

Rico pushed himself away from the ledge and turned to look at the captain suspiciously. "No ta'e? Ah kee' dollie?"

"Yes, you can keep your dollie. What my men do in their free time is not my concern." He was surprised to see Rico genuinely smile, his dark blue eyes lighting up. For a moment he thought the man was going to hug him, and was relieved when he didn't. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. I'm forming a special unit and I need a weapon's expert. I'd like you to join my team."

"Kaboom?"

"Uh. Yes. Kaboom. Lots of kaboom." He moved his hands to pantomimed an explosion. Then he pointed an index finger at the man. "But only when I say so, comprende?" Rico nodded enthusiastically. "But first, I need to see your fighting skill." Skipper looked at his watch. "Meet me in the training room tomorrow at 0600. Be ready for some tough training. I expect you to show me what you've got."


	3. Chapter 3

It was 0600 and the two men faced each other in the training hall. Both were dressed in the training clothes of black workout pants and white t-shirts. There was no one else in the hall; Skipper made sure of that. He didn't want anyone distracting them. Rico was grateful. While he loved hand-to-hand, he didn't like to hear the not-so-quiet whispers of "psycho-freak" from the observers.

The two went into fight mode and slowly began circling each other. If there had been anyone watching, they wouldn't have known who moved first. But before Rico knew it, he was flat on his back. Stunned, he looked at the smaller man standing above him. No one had ever dropped him to the mat. He had apparently underestimated the captain. Well, he wasn't going to hold back now.

A half hour later, both men stood panting and wiping sweat from their faces. They lost track of how many bouts they had. Rico managed to take down Skipper a few times, but Skipper won the most bouts. Rico was confounded. That little man was a lot stronger then he looked.

"Very good, Rico. I see that I picked a good man. If you are still willing to join my unit, I'll send you the location of your new quarters." Rico nodded his agreement, still puzzling over this man. "You look like you have something on your mind, soldier. Mind telling me what?"

Rico's eyes widened momentarily before narrowing. What this some kind of joke. The man knew he couldn't talk well. Was he making fun of him? Well, he wasn't going to play that game. Rico crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head.

Skipper regarded him. If he was to understand Rico, he needed him to talk. "That's an order, soldier. Tell me what's on your mind."

Rico glared at him, but felt compelled to tell him. In a stream of sounds and much arm movement, he told the captain how he was baffled that he was defeated by a man much smaller than himself. No one had ever defeated him before and yet this man had. He just couldn't understand it. Then he stopped talking and his arms dropped to his side. When the Skipper continued to look at him, Rico inwardly sighed and waited for the inevitable "huh?"

Skipper smiled and said, "well it was about time someone defeated you, to show you that you _could_ be defeated. There are people out there tougher than the boys you fight here." He wagged a finger at Rico. "And never underestimate a man just because he's smaller than you."

Rico was stunned. "You un'stan' me?"

"Naturally," Skipper said, smiling confidently. They began walking back to the locker room. "I simply listened to the sounds you made and watched your lip movements. That gave me the gist of what you were saying."

Rico was silent while they changed. No one had ever bothered trying to understand him. Even when he talked slowly and carefully, people couldn't seem to understand what he was saying. But this man understood what he said. He walked with him out of the locker room and down the deserted hall. 'But', he thought, 'it could have just been a good guess. After all, we had just fought, so he could have simply figured that's what I was talking about.' Rico decided to test Skipper. He cleared his throat and said a couple more sentences.

"Hmm. I've never tried rice pudding, but I suppose there's nothing wrong with people liking it. I agree that the Die Hard movies are great. All that action!" Rico stopped and stared at the captain. Skipper smiled, knowing that Rico was testing him. "Now, that's all for this morning. Someone will come and take you to the new quarters by 1100, so be ready to move immediately. I'll see you this evening."

Unconsciously, Rico began to follow him. Skipper looked over his shoulder and small smile playing on his lips. "You're dismissed, soldier. Go pack." He continued without looking back again.

Startled, Rico saluted, even though he knew the captain couldn't see it. But, as if he knew, Skipper saluted back while continuing to walk away.

Rico sat on his bed, humming softly. At his feet was the bag that held everything he owned. In his hand was his Ms. Perky doll. Brushing her hair always helped to calm him. Some part of his brain told him that she's wasn't a real person, but that didn't seem to matter. She didn't laugh at him. She wasn't afraid of him. She understood him. She was the only one who understood him. Till now.

That captain was a strange man. He wanted Rico to join his unit, and was going to let him do kabooms. He actually understood what Rico said. He was able to beat Rico in hand-to-hand. He wasn't going to try to take dollie away. Well, he _said_ he wasn't going to. It seemed too good to be true. Maybe it was. Maybe it was some kind of joke.

Something digging into his hand brought him back from his thoughts. He looked down to see that he was squeezing Ms. Perky way too tight. He relaxed his grip and murmured, "sorry, baby."

He jumped when there was a knock on the door. He gave Ms. Perky a quick kiss before putting her in the bag. The door opened to a man who looked around his age. The man was a few inches taller than Rico. His light brown hair was just within regulation length and combed back. His eyes reminded Rico of the ocean. "Are you Rico," he asked, looking between his tablet and Rico. When Rico nodded, he put the tablet in his messenger bag and continued, "good! Skipper wanted me to bring you to our HQ."


	4. Chapter 4

"My name is Kowalski," the man said as they walked along the hall. "I am the analysts of the unit. I also am the scientist and inventor. I created some of the items that we'll be using in the group." Rico noted the pride in the man's voice and notice the heightened color in the man's cheeks. Looked like he was as much into science and inventing stuff as Rico was into making things go 'kaboom'.

He followed Kowalski into the parking lot. Kowalski opened the back of a black van and motioned Rico to put his bag there. They climbed into the van and Kowalski pulled out of the parking lot. Rico watched the scenery go by as Kowalski talked on and on about stuff he created, some of which apparently blew up when tested. Rico smiled at that. He'd love to watch the inventions blow up. Maybe he could get some ideas for his explosives.

He also discussed the other two members of the unit. "Manfredi is our martial arts expert. He'll be running our martial arts training and making sure we stay in top fighting condition. Johnson is our strategies as well as medic and takes care of everything short of major surgery. He also helps me with some of my inventions. We just have one more member to find. Skipper is trying to find a code-breaker and computer-hacker."

An hour had passed when Rico noticed a city skyline in the distance. It looked like the New York skyline. He hadn't talked at all during all that time, but he decided to risk it. "Whar we go?"

"To our HQ. Skipper believes that the best hiding place is in plain sight. HQ is in one of the apartment buildings on Park Avenue near Central Park. We have an entire floor for just our unit."

It was late afternoon as they drove through the busy traffic of NYC. Eventually, they pulled up to a nice apartment building with a parking area underground. Kowalski parked the van and headed to a nearby stairwell. He walked over to a mounted fire extinguisher case and opened the door. Moving the extinguisher a little to the side, he placed his hand against the left side of the case. There was a faint glow inside the case before a portion of the wall moved aside. Rico was astonished, as he would have never known there was a door there.

They entered a small room and the door slid closed behind them. The room was only big enough to hold several people standing. In the far corner was a picture of a penguin's head. It hung over a covered hole in the floor. Kowalski walked up to the picture and looked into the eyes of the penguin and said in a clear voice, "Kowalski". A computerized voice proclaimed, "voice and eye pattern acknowledged. Welcome home, Kowalski."

He reached down and pulled up the cover to reveal a set of metal rungs. Without a word, Kowalski went through the hole. Rico slung his bag over his shoulder and climbed down into the hole. The hole itself was only a couple of feet thick. Afterwards, it opened into a large room. Rice momentarily stopped at the bottom of the ladder to look around in amazement. He could tell at a glance that this was a main area of HQ. By one wall was a TV and a couch. On the wall next to the ladder was some kind of large fish trophy. By the third wall was an open kitchen and dining table with six chairs. The fourth wall had an opening that led into a hallway. This is where the tall man headed, stopping at the entrance.

"The first room on the left is Skipper's and mine. The first on the right belongs to Johnson and Manfredi. They're both out on surveillance right now. The last room on the left is your room. When we find our final member, he'll be sharing the room with you. I hope you're fine with sharing a room." Rico nodded. "The last room on the right is the toilet, and the door at the end of the hall has the showers and sinks. Any questions?"

Rico looked around the room, looked up at the hole they came through, and back around the room again. He wanted to ask how all the furniture made it through that small hole, but he was concerned about not being understood. Finally, curiosity won out. Talking slowly and carefully he asked how they got the furniture into the HQ.

Kowalski stared at him for a long time. So long, Rico started to tense up. He _knew_ the man wouldn't understand. His anxiety was relieved when Kowalski said, "you were asking how we got the furniture in here when the entrance is so small?" Rico nodded and Kowalski smiled. "We have more than one entrance. Skipper believes that we should have other escape routes. Just in case. We brought the furniture through those openings. Skipper will show you those when he gets here tonight."

Rico looked around the area again and back of the rung ladder. "Entia fla?"

Kowalski hemmed a little. "Er, well, yes. An entire floor _under_ the building. We're waiting for one of the units to open above so that we'll have another entrance. It'll also help with our cover, as we'll be able to enter our HQ from the apartment, rather than the stairwell."

There was an awkward silence as Rico continued to stare at the slightly taller man. "Um. Well. Yes. Soooo...go ahead and get settled in. Dinner is at 1800. The others should be back by then."


	5. Chapter 5

Rico sat tucked away in a corner of some dirty and dark bar. The Penguins (as their unit was called) were in Guatemala City on their first major assignment. They were looking for someone who was a threat to the military base nearby. There were two bars the man frequented. Rico sat in this one, Manfredi sat in one in another part of the city. Johnson thought that Rico's scar and Manfredi's eyepatch would help them blend in with the rather low crowd at the bars.

Rico had been sitting there nursing his drink for the past hour. He was about the call it a night and leave, when a nearby voice caught his attention. The nearness of the voice got him more than the words spoken in Spanish. People were always surprised that Rico could only speak a little Spanish. He wasn't actually Hispanic and Rico wasn't even his actual name. It was a name given to him by the kids in the street. "Rico the Freako".

He looked up to see a beautiful woman standing by his table, smiling down at him. She repeated her words. He caught the words, "hello" and "woman" but didn't know what else she said. She smiled and said in English, "Ah, we usually don't get tourists here. So again I say, hello good-looking. Buy a woman a drink?"

Good looking? Rico looked around to see if she was talking to someone else. The woman laughed, which sent shivers down Rico's spine. She gracefully sat in the chair next to him. "Yes, I'm talking to you." Her fingers slid lightly over his, causing another shiver. "Now how about a drink?"

Rico signaled the waitress to bring a drink for the woman. While they waited, she asked, "what's your name, good-looking?"

"Rico," he croaked. He saw the realization on her face as she heard his voice. But instead of looking disgusted, she smile.

"I'm Daniela, but you can call me 'Dani'. What brings you to such a place as this, Rico?"

Rico smiled. "Tou'is'." She laughed again, and placed her hand on his arm. Rico felt his breath catch. Daniela's drink arrived, and Rico used the distraction to calm himself down. He truly couldn't believe that a woman, and a beautiful one at that, was talking to him. This was completely new to him! Unconsciously, Rico reached into his pocket and switched off the communication device he was wearing.

The woman, realizing Rico's speech problem, brought out her cell phone so that Rico could type messages onto it. At first, he was rather clumsy with it, but he improved with each message he typed. Rico lost track of time. When he did notice the time, he realized that he was supposed to have reported back over an hour ago. He typed, "I have to go. My friends are expecting me" in the phone.

"I see. Will you meet me tomorrow? At the Mercado Central around 11 AM?" Rico nodded enthusiastically. She gave Rico the location and kissed him on the cheek before leaving him. Rico returned to base in a happy daze.

That daze was stopped short when he arrived at the base. Skipper was not at all happy. Rico hung his head while Skipper reprimanded him for a half hour. Johnson later told him that Skipper was angry because the man hadn't shown up at either bar. "And Skipper was worried about you. You shouldn't have turned off the communication. He thought something had happened to you. Please don't worry Skipper like that again, Rico."

"Ah righ'," he replied, feeling bad that he had worried the others. But as he lay in bed, he couldn't help but smile at the thought of Dani. He touched his cheek, reliving that moment. He fell asleep with the smile still on his face. His Ms. Perky doll sat forgotten in his bag.

Rico hopped off the bus and started making his way to the Mercado Central. He spotted Dani standing near the entrance. She took hold of his hand as they entered the market. Rico was in heaven!

They wandered the shops looking at the various items for sale. He bought Dani a beautiful shawl from one of the vendors. They ate lunch at one of the food vendors in the mercado. The entire afternoon passed quickly. Once again it was time to part, but not without a promise to meet again the next day.

The next few days passed by in a happy fog for Rico. He and Dani met every day and spent the day in different spot throughout the city. The nights were different. Skipper was getting more annoyed and angry that their guy wasn't showing up. They knew, from Recon, that he was in Guatemala City, but he seemed to be lying really low.

Still none of that mattered to Rico. His thought were mostly on Dani. The way she looked. The way she smelled. The way she moved. How her hand felt in his. He blushed every time she called him "amorcito". No one had ever used the word "love" in reference to him.

At night he still sat in the bar; though, the past few nights it was the other bar. But on this night, he was back in the bar where he first met Dani. He wasn't there long, when she showed up. She smiled when she saw him and walked gracefully to his table. But she didn't sit down. Instead she leaned down and whispered, "there's someplace I want to take you." Her lips brushed his. A jolt ran through Rico's body. She took his hand and led him, dazed, out of the bar where she hailed a taxi.

The taxi stopped outside a hotel. Dani got out of the taxi and motioned him to follow her. He followed her into the hotel and up to one of the rooms. As they entered the room, she gave him another kiss. Moving into the bathroom she said, "I'll be just a moment," and shut the bathroom door.

In his hidden earpiece he heard Skipper's voice. "Has he shown up yet?" "Uh un." "Well, let us know the moment he shows up." "Kay." Rico turned off the communication device and pulled the earpiece out. He dropped it into his pocket. Dani came out of the bathroom wearing only a negligee.

When Rico woke a few hours later, he was alone in the room. Dani was gone, along with all his clothes.


	6. Chapter 6

Rico sat on the bed in the empty hotel room, confused. Were the past few days a lie? Was this all a scam to rob him? If so, why not do that the first night? Why play with him like this? He wasn't good at figuring things out. Thinking was Kowalski and Skipper's thing, not his.

Kowalski! Skipper! Oh no! The communication device was gone with his clothes! He looked around the room and realized that there wasn't a phone in the room. Well, no matter. He didn't know the phone number for the base. He had no way to contact them.

He walked to the window and looked out. It was still night. But, he recognized the area. In fact, from there, he could see the hotel that the unit used as a base. He just had to get to it. With no clothes.

He went into the bathroom and was grateful to see towels. Grabbing a large bath towel, he wrapped it around himself in an attempt to cover as much of himself as he could. Opening the door, he looked out into the hallway. It was deserted. He quickly made his way to the nearest stairwell. The door at the bottom led out into an alleyway.

His senses were on high alert. Being caught naked in an alleyway would be extremely dangerous. He carefully made his way along, keeping a sharp eye out. Thankfully, it was the early hours of the morning and the streets were very quiet, though not completely empty. Somehow, he managed to get to the unit's hotel without being seen.

Skipper answered the door when Rico knocked. Skipper was NOT happy! He grabbed Rico's arm and pulled him into the room where Rico saw the other three looking equally upset. The yelling then commenced. "Where have you been? Johnson and Manfredi were combing the city for you! Why did you turn off your communication device when you knew you were supposed to keep it on?" Skipper finally noticed what Rico was wearing. "And what happened to your clothes?"

His eyes never leaving the ground, he told them about Dani. While he talked of their dates, he put on a spare set of clothes. His cheeks were burning as he told them about Dani taking him to the hotel. He couldn't bring himself to say what happened in the room, but he didn't need to. It was quiet for a few minutes after he finished.

"Rico," Kowalski said gently, "Dani was our man's girlfriend. Johnson and I have been investigating her."

"Wha?"

Skipper sighed. He could see the hurt look in Rico's eyes. "She used you Rico. Played you like a cheap instrument." Even though Skipper knew Rico had been hurt, it didn't change the fact that he had messed up. Big time. "And now our mission has been compromised. Go down to the lobby and wait till one of us comes and gets you. The rest of us need to discuss what will happen now."

"Ay ay." Rico left the room.

"Skipper," Johnson said, "don't be too hard on him. He couldn't help but fall for a pretty girl who noticed him."

"That should have made him suspicious! If some pretty girl started coming on to me in a bar, I would be suspicious!"

"Because you have that experience," Manfredi said. "Rico hasn't. His experience with girls is limited. Trust me, Skipper, when you're damaged, girls avoid you. Can you blame him for falling in love with the first girl who took an interest in him?"

"But she now has one of our communication devices. We can't talk to each other, without them hearing our conversations!"

"You know," Kowalski chimed in, "that just might work to our advantage."

"Yes," Johnson said, catching on quickly. "We could use it to trap them!"

"How?"

Manfredi found Rico down in the lobby, sitting with his head in his hands. Rico looked up at Manfredi approached. The one-eyed man nodded a 'come on' with his head and turned. Rico followed him dejectedly. He was going to be kicked out of the unit and that hurt him even more than Dani had. The unit was everything to him. He didn't know what he'd do if he was forced to leave.

All eyes turned to Rico when he and Manfredi entered the room. Skipper stared at him, arms folded across his chest. "I'm not going to lie to you, Rico. You messed up badly. And on our very first mission." Rico's head hung even lower. "But Johnson has a plan that just might turn this all around."

After a few moments of quiet, Rico raised his eyes. "Ah sta'?"

"Yes, you get to stay, providing this mission succeeds." Skipper, and everyone else in the room, was shocked when Rico rushed him and threw his arms around Skipper. "Whoa, whoa! Stand down, soldier. I said only if this mission succeeds." He managed to pull himself away from Rico, and saw the hope shining in the younger man's eyes.

"Okay. Now here's the plan."


	7. Chapter 7

**An inconsistency was brought to my attention. I rewrote a little bit toward the end of the chapter. I hope this helps make things a little neater.**

*/*/*/

"Johnson! Kowalski! Report! Any signs of Rico yet?"

"Negative." "No,sir."

"We need to find him before he gets to the military base! His badge alone won't get him into the base. They just changed the password and he needs to know the new one."

"What's the new password?"

"Dolphin. If you see Rico, be sure to give it to him."

"Aye, aye." "Yes, sir."

Dani's boyfriend smiled and nodded to her. "We can get onto the base now." For the past few nights, Dani had been telling him about Rico. The way he talked and moved. He had cut his hair to match the picture on the ID badge. Dani used makeup to give him a scar on the side of his face. "Lets go."

*/*/*/

Skipper turned off his communication device and nodded to the commander of the military base. "Now we just wait for someone to use that password. They'll probably use it soon, since they'll be worried that we'll find Rico before they get here."

Kowalski turned off his device. "Skipper, did you have to use that word?"

Skipper smirked at him. "Do you have a _problem_ with that word, Kowalski?"

Kowalski dropped his eyes. "No, sir," he muttered, turning red.

"Good. Now turn your communication device back on. We need you and Johnson to keep up the allusion that you're still looking for Rico. Manfredi. Rico. Lets go fishing."

*/*/*/

"State your name!"

"Rico." The man held up the ID badge.

"What's the password?"

"Dol'in."

"Who's that with you?"

"Oh, I'm his girlfriend," Dani purred. "Surely big, strong men like you aren't afraid of me."

"No but you should be afraid of us."

Both people turned to the new voice behind them. It belonged to a man with a flat crew cut. Beside him were a man with an eyepatch and the real Rico. A couple dozen armed people quickly surrounded the couple. The man with the crew cut said, "the game's up. Best to come quietly."

Though both resisted, they couldn't outmatch the group. They were both quickly subdued and handcuffed. Dani still fought against her captors, but only enough to get her near Rico.

"Rico," she said, coaxingly. "Amorcito." That word made Rico feel nauseous. "You wouldn't let them take me away, would you?" She batted her eyes at him. He felt sick. He turned away from her. She touched his shoulder, but he pulled away, a look of disgust on his face.

"Take them away," Skipper said.

*/*/*/

Skipper found Rico in the military base's training room. Rico punched and kicked at the hanging bag. He felt disgusted. He had let a woman compromise the mission. Because of love, he might get kicked out of the only place he felt he belonged. How could he have been so stupid? He hated how mushy he'd been; How stupid he'd been over a woman. He wanted to throw up.

"How about you give that bag a rest and fight a real person?"

Rico readily agreed. A bag couldn't fight back. It couldn't punish him and he felt that he needed to be punished. This was pretty evident to Skipper after Rico kept losing each bout. After about the 12th time that Skipper threw Rico to the floor, the younger man stayed there. After a few moments, Rico struggled up to a sitting position. Skipper sat down next to him.

"I know you've had your heart broken, Rico. But, trust me, it'll mend."

Rico nodded, but stayed quiet for a few minutes. Finally he asked, quietly, "Ah sta'?"

"Well, of course, you can stay. I'm not going to kick you off the team."

"Bu' yu sai'."

"Yes, I know what I said. I was angry and...scared. I thought something had happened to you. We had only just found out who Dani was and we thought she had killed you." Skipper stopped as he realized that Rico asked. "Wait. Is that what you're upset about? You thought I was going to kick you out?" Rico nodded sadly.

"I told you I wouldn't if the mission succeeded and it did Did you think I was still going to kick you out?"

Rico nodded again. "Ah mes u'. Rea' ba'".

"Yes, you did. But you're human, regardless of how others treat you. We all mess up sometimes, Rico. There are reasons I'm not allowed back in Denmark." Seeing the questioning look on Rico's face, he quickly added, "that's classified information, soldier." After a few moments of silence, Skipper spoke again. "And even if we had failed, I wouldn't have kicked you out. I think you are a valued member of this team and wild horses couldn't drag you from us."

For the second time that night, Skipper was surprised by the younger man hugging him. He could feel Rico shaking and heard him sniffling. 'well,' he thought, 'I'll let it go this once.' He put his arms around Rico and held him till he stopped shaking. "Now then. How about some real fighting, soldier!"

Later that night, a slightly bruised Skipper looked in on Rico. Since their mission was done, they were staying on the military base till their flight in two days' time. Rico was curled up on a bottom bunk. Skipper smiled to see the young man fast asleep; his beloved doll held close to his chest.


	8. Chapter 8

**A note on the last chapter. ****I didn't want anything too angsty for Rico. In the episode "Love Hurts", Skipper smirks when he says, "Guatemala". I don't think he'd be smirking if it was something extremely painful and traumatic to Rico. Skipper is hard, but I don't think he's cruel. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my take on Guatemala. **

*/*/*/

"Men, we have a situation!" Four heads came up and turned toward him. "Some of the agents have gone rogue and have taken the main HQ. We've been called in to help."

"But can we get there in time," Manfredi asked.

"No time for those questions. We're needed. Now load up and move out!"

The drive to the main HQ was filled with talk of analysis and strategies. They had been receiving updates from the Commander, who had managed to escape the building. It was three men who had turned on them. They had gone over to someone named Dr. Blowhole, and this was their first assignment. When the Commander read off the names, Manfredi made an unhappy noise in his throat.

"Can't say I'm surprised. I trained them years ago. Bullies, every one of them."

Johnson nodded in agreement. "I treated many of their victims. Kids too scared to tell the Commander about them. I tried to talk them into it, but they wouldn't. I told the Commander myself, but his hands were tied. The complaints had to come from the victims in order for him to do anything."

"Well", Skipper said, "then we'll be the ones to deal out the discipline."

*/*/*/

The main building was eerily quiet as they moved swiftly and silently down one of the hallways. Johnson was outside with the Commander. Any intel would come from him. He would also move in, if any of the men went down.

Using hand signals, Skipper ordered Kowalski and Manfredi down a side hallway. He and Rico continued down the hallway they were in.

"They might be in the mess hall," came Johnson voice through the ear piece.

"Roger that," Skipper whispered, knowing the microphone on his lapel was strong enough to pick up his voice. Kowalski did great work creating these communication devices. An so far, they hadn't blown up.

They made their way into the mess hall, and were immediately fired upon. Skipper and Rico dropped to the floor, grabbing the legs of the nearest table and knocking it on its side. Skipper peered over the table edge to see another overturned table at the other end of the hall. "Gunmen spotted," he said into his microphone.

A bullet came through the table. "Frozen fish-sticks! We need another table to give us better protection!"

The closest table was 10 feet to their left. Rico changed the clip in his gun. "Ah go. Yu cova'." Rico fired as he ran the 10 feet and overturned the other table. It was at that time that Skipper noticed there were only two people behind the other table.

"Johnson, how many gunmen are there?"

"Three, sir."

Then where was the other one? Skipper's gut told him to turn around. He saw the third gunman slip into the mess hall behind him. The man didn't see him, but he did see Rico. Skipper aimed at the gunman, but discovered that his clip was empty. There wasn't time to reload. He cried out a warning to Rico as he ran toward his team mate. The gunman fired.

Rico turned just as Skipper's body slammed into him, sending them both flying. Rico's gun skittered noisily across the concrete floor. Rico groaned at the pain that shot through his back. He looked down at the man lying across his chest. "Kippah?" Then he saw the blood. He couldn't see where Skipper had been wounded. Only that there was blood everywhere. "Kippah!" Rico began whimpering.

The gunman who fired laughed as he walked closer. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Rico the Freako."

_They hurt my Skipper._

The other two men came out from behind the table. The first man walked over to them. "I heard someone had tamed the psycho," said one of the other two. "Should have known it was Skipper. The psycho and the paranoid. Perfect combo."

_They will pay for hurting Skipper!_

The men laughed. "What's the matter, little doggie? Are you sad your master was killed? Well, don't be. You'll be joining him soon enough." They made the mistake of turning their backs on him.

_They. Will. Pay._

The men were still laughing as Rico silently stood up behind them. "Well, time to go join your mas..." The man was stopped mid-sentence by a flying chair. The other two men turned to Rico, only to turn and run as the overturned table came flying at them.

The two men ran back toward their own overturned table. Rico whooped cheerfully and picked up another table, throwing it at the two retreating men. Rico walked to the first gunman who lay unconscious on the floor. He picked him up and threw him toward the door to the hallway.

Manfredi and Kowalski ducked at the gunman sailed over their heads. They ducked again, as a chair flew past. They looked at Rico, who now had a large mallet and was swinging it like a bat; knocking chairs and tables about the mess hall. He was laughing and whooping as he proceeded to destroy the mess hall on his way to the terrified gunmen.

Rico was oblivious to the gunfire, and the two shots that actually hit. Luckily for him, the gunmen didn't have many bullets left and those were gone when he reached the table. Their terrified screams were cut short. Rico gave a crazed laugh and continue destroying everything in the room.

"Oh no," Manfredi said, horrified. "He's lost control. He's gone full psycho. The last time I saw him like this was when he destroyed that bar."

Kowalski gulped. He had heard about that bar. Johnson had told him about the injuries to the other men. He had to think of something, and he had to think fast.


	9. Chapter 9

Manfredi cried into his microphone, "man down! Repeat, Skipper is down! Johnson we need you NOW."

Kowalski looked around the room. There was destruction everywhere. Everywhere except where Skipper lay. "Manfredi! Even in his crazed state, Rico is avoiding the area where Skipper is! That's the safest spot in the room!"

Both men ran to Skipper. They could at least make sure he was okay, before they tried to stop Rico. Kowalski put his ear down by Skipper's mouth and put two fingers on his throat, while Manfredi started ripping Skipper's shirt with a knife. "He's still alive. Where's Johnson?"

"Right here!" Johnson ran through the door. Without a pause, he opened his medkit and began tending to Skipper. "The gunman in the hall is alive, but he's going to be in a world of hurt for a long time. Where are the other two gunmen?"

"Behind the overturned table, but Rico has...dealt with them." Johnson paused to look at Manfredi, who shrugged. "We don't know if they're alive or dead. At the very least, they're unconscious."

"Well, I'll take care of Skipper. You two try to calm Rico down. Even from here I can see he's been injured."

Manfredi and Kowalski looked at each other, then looked a Rico. He was still laughing and whooping insanely. "Easier said than done," Kowalski muttered.

The two made their way cautiously toward Rico. "Calm down, Rico." "It's okay, Rico." "Skipper is going to be fine." "Give us the mallet, Rico."

"KABOOM! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Come on, Rico. Don't make us hurt you."

Suddenly a loud commanding voice rang through the mess hall. "RICO! STAND DOWN, SOLDIER!"

Rico stopped. He turned toward the voice. Kowalski and Manfredi also turned. There was Skipper, leaning on Johnson. He looked very pale, but that did little to dim the anger in his eyes. "I said, stand down. NOW!"

The mallet slipped from Rico's hand, clattering harmlessly on the floor. "Kippah?" Rico smiled and softly repeated, "Kippah". He swayed a little before crumpling to the floor. A moment later, his strength spent, Skipper lost consciousness and slumped against Johnson.

*/*/*/

Skipper opened his eyes. It took the briefest of moments to realize that he was in a hospital room. He felt a warm weight next to him and on him. He looked down and saw Rico. The younger man was wearing only pajama bottoms. There was a bandage wrapped around his abdomen and another around his right arm. He was sitting on the edge of a chair, but his chest and head were on the bed. His right arm was draped protectively over Skipper's stomach.

He vaguely remembered what happened in the mess hall. The last thing he clearly remembered was the pain of the gunshot and slamming into Rico. After that, things were fuzzy. He heard Rico scream his name. Somewhere in his memory were the sounds of Rico whimpering and the gunmen laughing. He thought the others showed up. Well, they much have because he kinda remembered leaning on Johnson as he saw the destruction that Rico had wrought. And he knew it was his voice that stopped it all.

Rico had listened to him. The man who listened to no one else, listened to him. He was glad that he could stop Rico. It was a good thing to remember in case this happened again. Rico could be controlled and he was the man who could do it. Perhaps the only one who could.

The other three walked into the room. Skipper brought a finger up to his lips.

"He came here the moment he woke up," Johnson said quietly. "We thought it best to not upset him again. He's been asleep here for about an hour now."

"We hoped you wouldn't mind, " Manfredi added.

"Give me a status report on the gunmen."

"Alive but unconscious," Kowalski responded. "As Johnson put it, they'll be 'in a world of hurt' for some time to come."

"And Rico?"

Johnson replied, "his injuries are minor. A couple of weeks and he'll be ready to destroy stuff again."

"And...?" He didn't need to say more, because they knew what he was asking about.

Manfredi said, "the Commander wanted to talk to you about that when you're better."

"You're not going to let them take Rico away, are you," Kowalski asked.

Skipper could see the anxious look on the face of his second-in-command. In fact, all of them looked anxious. Skipper smiled. They had really come together as a team. They looked out for each other; worried about each other.

Skipper rested his hand on Rico's head. In his sleep Rico smiled and made happy gurgling noises. Crazed psycho-path or not, Rico was a part of this team. They were all a part of this team and he wasn't going to let anyone break up his team.

"No. No one is going to take him away. No man gets left behind."

**The End**

**Thanks for reading! ^_^**


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